Moe warned to expect more aftershocks

Geoscience Australia has recorded more than 200 aftershocks since the large earthquake south-west of Moe, in south Gippsland, last month.

The strongest of the aftershocks, measuring magnitude 4.4 was felt on Friday night.

The original earthquake, on June 19, was a magnitude 5.4 and is part of a cluster spanning three years.

Seismologists are warning Moe residents to expect more aftershocks and Geoscience Australia has installed extra monitoring devices in the area.

Seismologist Jonathon Bathgate says Gippsland is one of Australia's top three seismically active areas and the aftershocks are not unusual.

"The general cause for any earthquake activity within Australia is the fact that we're on a plate that is moving northward at about seven centimetres every year," he said.

"That imparts stresses within the crustal rocks within the plate and at certain locations around the country that stress becomes too great and we get earthquakes.

"That's basically what we're seeing in the Moe area at the moment."

He says the cluster of seismic activity in the region started three years ago with earthquakes at Korumburra.

"We were seeing a tailing off in the frequency and size of the aftershocks until the 4.4 that occurred on Friday but that's not particularly unusual to get some larger earthquakes mixed in amongst the smaller aftershocks," he said.